Draining water lines

I use a Camco blow out plug in my city water connection with the FW tank valved off plus I run pink AF in the system as well. It gets cold here. No point in have an issues.

SidecarFlip I was looking at the map to see where Deerfield and Petersburg are and I see you are about 130 miles East of where HWY's M60 & M62 Cross in Western Michigan which is where I am originally from. Yes you need the pink stuff there.


Rich

Is blowing out the system really that effective? And how exactly do you do that. I have a small pancake compressor and a RV. Now what? Sorry for the dumb question, but this is my first RV and don't want to muff it up now.

garmp wrote:
Is blowing out the system really that effective? And how exactly do you do that. I have a small pancake compressor and a RV. Now what? Sorry for the dumb question, but this is my first RV and don't want to muff it up now.

In my experience, yes--it's entirely effective if done properly. There are some here who are very leery of relying on doing so, but also many like me who have never had any hint of trouble.

The basic process is pretty straightforward. First you drain the water normally with the tank drains and hot water heater drain and low point drains. Then, run the pump for awhile to get the water out of it; it's okay to run RV water pumps dry. Then close the taps and low point drains, bypass the water heater (or, if that's not possible, temporarily reinstall the drain plug), and hook the compressor up to the city water port. The pressure regulator on the compressor should be set to something relatively low, maybe 40 psi. Once it's hooked up, open each tap successively and leave it open until the water is done spitting and only air is coming out. Don't forget the toilet flush valve and outside shower if you have one. It's also a good idea to open the low point drains and let whatever water is there out. I generally go around a couple of times to make sure everything is proper. Unhook the compressor, put some antifreeze in the drain traps and toilet bowl, and you're done.

If you have an icemaker in the fridge or a clothes washer or I suppose a filtered drinking water tap for the kitchen sink, or similar appliances hooked up to the plumbing system, they'll need to be winterized separately, generally by unhooking and draining any water in them and (for the washing machine) draining/spinning some antifreeze to make sure the drain pump is protected.

I pieced together my own blow-out adapter for the city water inlet from pipe and air fittings from Home Depot: a male garden hose to pipe thread adapter, a pipe thread reducer, and a compressor quick-connect fitting. The whole business is brass and very sturdy. There are purpose-made doohickies available, as well.

Is blowing out the system really that effective?

Depends on your RV. My 1990 Winnebago Warrior has 4 drain valves. 2 under the bed with the water tank and pump, and 2 under the bathroom sink. Since the valves are the low point in the vehicle, when you open them (and open all the faucets prevent any vacuum preventing draining) all the water goes out the drains. I bought one of those blow-out fittings thinking it was all necessary and when I hooked it up only air went through the system - there was no water left in the system to blow out.

So, I don't bother trying to blow anything out anymore. Pull all 4 drains and open the faucets and everything drains out on its own via gravity.

Steve

pappaone wrote:
SidecarFlip I was looking at the map to see where Deerfield and Petersburg are and I see you are about 130 miles East of where HWY's M60 & M62 Cross in Western Michigan which is where I am originally from. Yes you need the pink stuff there.


Rich

It's cold here right now. Been below freezing every night since last week and barley 40 in the daytime. I use a lot of RV antifreeze. All my ag spray equipment has to have it.